FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Nescacman]

One could reasonably claim Cosgrove earned it, but to suggest it is a slam dunk is a tad silly. 
Wesleyan lost 30 extremely talented seniors coming into the year and I believe they obtained their first back to back NESCAC title in school history.  Either choice would not surprise me.

First off, it is no longer "Coach of the Year"...it is now "Coaching Staff of the Year"....another NESCAC nod to participation trophyism and political correctness.

As we said earlier, Wesleyan's coaching staff should win it but Colby's staff probably will win it. However, in true NESCAC fashion, we would not be surprised to see a tie and both staff's split the award this year.

Wouldn't be shocked to see the same thing happen for Defensive Player of the Year. We think Wesleyan's Dylan Connors deserves it but we could see him sharing it this year with someone TBD.

As far as OPOTY and ROTY, Wesleyan's Fitz and Kelly are shoo-in winners, IOO.

NM

[nescac1]

Luke Harmon has been a dominating presence for three years and I continue to think is worthy of at least co-DPOTY. 

[Nescacman]

Luke Harmon has been a dominating presence for three years and I continue to think is worthy of at least co-DPOTY. 

Harmon was an excellent player but not sure he was even the best player in 2025 on the Lord Mammoth's defense. We were very impressed with several of their DL. They were a force for Amherst this year. Extremely disruptive.

[Charlie]

I still believe despite the hiccups Amherst had and you take away those losses to Bates & Colby they would have been 7-2 and played the top tier teams extremely well. If they do not loose players to graduation they are going to be tough next year. I would put them into Coaching staff of the. year discussion. No one predicted they would end up 5-4 and play this well.

Other then Colby beating Trinity which Trinity gave them they did not beat any top level teams other then first game. At least Amherst beat Williams while Colby was pounded.

[MapleBBQChicken]

I still believe despite the hiccups Amherst had and you take away those losses to Bates & Colby they would have been 7-2 and played the top tier teams extremely well. If they do not loose players to graduation they are going to be tough next year. I would put them into Coaching staff of the. year discussion. No one predicted they would end up 5-4 and play this well.

Other then Colby beating Trinity which Trinity gave them they did not beat any top level teams other then first game. At least Amherst beat Williams while Colby was pounded.

At some point the games have to matter, Chuck. We can't base awards off of hypothetical records had certain games gone differently. Colby did beat Trinity, and they beat Amherst too. Wesleyan and Colby are the only coaching staffs that should have a shot, and for my money it's Wesleyan that deserves it with the back-to-back titles.

I would also posit that Middlebury's RB Connor McClellan should be in the OPOY conversation. Fitzsimons had a fantastic year, and would be a deserving winner. I just think that leading the NESCAC with both 959 rushing yards (106.6 per game) and 13 TDs (second most was 9) warrants a discussion. At the very least he should be first team all-conference.

[lumbercat]

McClellan is an all conference player but not OPOY. Ryan Lynskey had a better RB year last year before injury this year and he got very little attention for OPOY.
The OPOY should be Fitzsimmons who carried the NESCAC champs all year long. He made their RBs and receivers better. Never saw other skill position guys get so much better as the season advanced than they did at Wes this year. Fitsimmons was the glue, the offensive leader that made that team so good.